Useful Information – September 2023
August 30, 2023
Events, training, charity news, surveys, research, feedback, reports, services and much more – in one handy place!
This page will be updated with new information as we receive it during September. Please check back regularly. (Last update: 28/09/23 – items added on this date are marked as [NEW])
You can view last month’s Useful Information here to catch up on new information added during August ’23.
If you’ve seen something you think we should be sharing, let us know! Email us: info@cumbriacvs.org.uk
Training and Events
Barrow Library Events – September
Find out more about events in September and October, as well regularly weekly events.
Click here to view the What’s On guide
Cumbria Constabulary – Menopause Cafe
18 October, online. The guest speaker Is Michelle Masters, a local business woman and the creator of the Social Media group, Menopause Matters. The Menopause Café will run from 1230 to 1430 where Michelle will present and there will be plenty of time for questions.
It will focus on understanding what perimenopause and menopause symptoms can occur, why they occur and helpful tips for managing the hormonal transition. Michelle and Di will also share their personal stories. This is an opportunity for all to engage in a session to understand how to nurture the wellbeing of ourselves and others.
Silver Sunday Ageing Well Event
1 October at Kendal Leisure Centre. Celebrating the national day for older people – friends, family and carers welcome!
Click on the thumbnail image for more information.
How to measure and report charitable impact
28 September, online. Metrics are essential in the charity sector, helping to measure key activities and impact which will affect your charity long term.
In this webinar, explore the metrics that charities should be measuring to monitor their charitable impact and how they can convey them effectively to a variety of audiences.
An invitation from Outside In
12 September, Kendal. Outside In would like to offer the opportunity for local organisations who work with children to meet up and discuss what everyone offers and the potential for collaboration.
As a centre with a small café area, they would love to offer their space for this opportunity to happen. Light refreshments provided. Join them on the 12th at 2.30pm for cake, with discussions beginning at 3pm.
RSVP to hello@outsideincumbria.org.uk
Virtual Fundraisers Networking
Tuesday 26 September, online. These friendly sessions involve a Get Grants Expert providing an update on the current grant fundraising landscape, before facilitating discussions about how the grant fundraising world continues to change, and what opportunities and challenges this presents to you as fundraisers.
Storytelling for Fundraising
Tuesday 3 and Tuesday 10 October, online. Get Grants Online Storytelling for Fundraising Training Course is designed to support fundraisers to improve their fundraising confidence and success through effective use of storytelling.
Telling stories is a powerful tool that is too often overlooked. Stories are used to engage, inform, persuade, and create connections between people. As a fundraiser, storytelling is a valuable skill that can be used to influence your potential supporters and maximise on your fundraising efforts.
Developing a Fundraising Strategy
Wednesday 20 & Wednesday 27 Sept, online. Across the sector, fundraisers and charity leaders are working to ensure their organisations put themselves in the best possible position to meet the future needs of their beneficiaries. Having diverse income sources that works for you is an essential part of making your organisation stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient.
In response to demand from the sector, Get Grants Online Developing a Fundraising Strategy Training Course has been created to give fundraisers the practical skills and knowledge to develop an effective fundraising strategy and increase their organisation’s income and sustainability.
Digital Fundraising
Tuesday 19 & Tuesday 26 September, online. With ever-increasing digital fundraising tools and platforms available, it can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start, and a drain on limited time and resources if you don’t know what is going to work for your specific organisation and fundraising needs.
Get Grants Digital Fundraising Training Course will give you the practical insight and information you need to successfully plan and deliver digital fundraising for your organisation. This course will help you understand the benefits of different digital platforms and tools, and where to focus your efforts to maximise your digital fundraising success.
Bid-Writing for Charities and Community Groups Course
Tues 12 & Tues 19th Sept 2023, online. Get Grants’ Online Bid Writing Course will give you pragmatic support that will improve your ratio of success and motivate you to write further grant applications and proposals with greater confidence.
Our course will give you access to our Fundraising expert’s extensive knowledge and advice and is equally useful for novices and people with all levels of experience in fundraising. It will help you increase your organisation income through fundraising and materialise those much-needed projects.
Seldom Heard Forum – Adoption and Fostering
Weds 4 October, online. In the UK, approximately 36,000 children and young people will enter the care system in 2023, around 100 children every day. There are 100k children in the UK who are looked after away from home.
Research can help us to find actionable entry points and assist the development of effective policies to reduce such inequalities. The forum discussion will include representatives from communities themselves and charities working on Adoption and Fostering in the North West. This will be of interest to: researchers, students, health professionals, commissioners, third sector organisations.
ARCFEST
Tuesday 12 September, Kendal. This is your opportunity to learn the how, why and what we can all get by being part of the Community Research and Engagement Network (CoREN), in a highly interactive, participatory and fun workshop.
For further details about the CoREN workshop, what’s happening over the rest of the day, and to register your interest, please follow this link.
Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness
18 October at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal. Following Cumbria’s Local Government Reorganisation, Healthwatch Cumbria has become two new organisations to better represent the views of local people.
Join us for a unique celebration as we launch your new Healthwatch, Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness.
Petteril Community Network Launch Event
Wednesday 20 September, Carlisle. This is an ideal opportunity for you to come along and have your say on what you want to see happening or improved in the Petteril community panel area. Local councillors, along with representatives from other organisations will be in attendance for you to have a chat with.
Find out more and reserve your spot here
What do the people you support want you to do about the environmental crisis?
As part of their Everyone’s Environment Programme, New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) have been discussing with young people, ethnic minority communities, Disabled people and older people from across the UK, their views on the impacts of nature and climate crises on their lives, and how they would like to see charities and policy makers respond.
NPC will be hosting a series of free webinars to share these urgent calls to action, and continue a sector wide conversation about how social charities can better support those who are likely to be most affected by changing environment and related policy.
The webinars are as follows:
- What young people want you to do about the environmental crises – 25 September
- What people from ethnic minority communities want you to do about the environmental crises – 26 September
- What older people and Disabled people want you to do about the environmental crises – 28 September
Cancern first annual event
4 October, Newcastle. VONNE have formally partnered with Cancern, a network of VCFSE organisations in the North East and North Cumbria who offer support for those who have been affected by a cancer diagnosis, making them the ideal organisation to lead on this community of interest.
Cancern are teaming up with Northern Cancer Alliance for this free event, funded by the Northern Cancer Alliance and Macmillan. They aim to:
- Provide an opportunity for VCSE Engagement & Networking including a marketplace / stall area.
- Involve members in developing the forward strategy for Cancern.
- Create a space to develop partnerships and opportunities to target health inequalities.
- Highlight the importance and value of VCSE services and support in cancer care.
- Focus on non-clinical support adding value to clinical pathways.
- Champion the sector.
North East and Cumbria Funder’s Network: Regional Funders event
25 September, Newcastle. The North East & Cumbria Funders Network are trialling an annual regional funders event to provide opportunities for funders and social investors to engage directly with VCSE organisations and increase awareness and understanding of them as funders/investors and to enable interactions between funders/investors and VCSE organisations through various activities.
This approach is different to a funding fair. VONNE want to enable funders and VCSE organisations to connect, learn from each other and build greater understanding and awareness.
Find out more and register here
How to protect your charity online
14 September 2023, online. In this webinar, explore the quick and easy checks charities can do to make their organisation less appealing to cyber criminals.
NAVCA Health & Wellbeing Forum with Emma Easton from NHSE
Wednesday 27 September 2023, online. Emma Easton, the Head of Voluntary Partnerships at NHS England, leads on developing more inclusive partnerships with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, including through a close working relationship with the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England to support the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Programme.
She will be discussing NHSE strategy in relation to the VCSE and the recently released NHSE Long Term Workforce Plan. This will be a great opportunity for discussion and to ask questions about the future of working with NHSE.
Book your place at this event here
Joining community insight with academic research – a case study
Weds 27 September. The NIHR ARC NWC project (Community Research and Engagement Network – CoREN) would like to invite you to attend a FREE online lunchtime workshop on Joining community insight with academic research – a case study.
Clare White, CEO of Liverpool Council for Voluntary Service (LCVS), will share their journey of partnering with academic institutions to design, develop and deliver research projects.
Introduction to Anti-Racism in Charities
19-20 September 2023, online. This course is a perfect introduction for senior leaders and trustees to learn and plan how to work towards race equity in their organisation’s culture, practice and services.
A 2020 report by Voice4Change England and ACEVO found that 68% of charity staff of colour had experienced, witnessed or heard stories of racism in the sector. During this training course, specialist consultants will give you the tools needed to create equity, diversity and inclusion within your organisation and through your charitable services.
Measuring the Impact of your Organisation
12–13 September 2023, online. Do you truly know the value of the good work that your charity does? Could you be doing more to demonstrate the impact that your work has to funders, donors and the public at large?
Leading impact experts from Moore Kingston Smith will guide you through the key concepts and how you can apply them to your charity. Interactive breakout sessions will allow you to share your experiences and ask questions, ensuring you leave the course with relevant advice for your organisation.
Westogether Climate Concerns event
Tuesday 26 September, Salterbeck. The event aims to bring together community groups and organisations, local councils and concerned individuals to find out more about current initiatives to get people involved in climate issues in West Cumbria and plan further ‘Doing our Bit’ awareness raising activities in the local area.
As well as networking with other groups, you can learn more about the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, Cumberland Council’s plans for work on climate issues, Copeland People’s Panel on climate change, CAfS’ Climate Champions programme and CDEC’s Youth Climate Leaders – the Future is Now programme; and find out what support is available through organisations such as CAfS, Cumbria CVS and Cumbria Association of Local Councils (CALC).
Please sign up via this link on the CAfS website
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board AGM
13 September, Preston. The ICB will be holding its first annual general meeting on the evening of Wednesday 13 September, after our board meeting.
Staff, partners and members of the public are invited to attend the session, which will include a presentation of our annual report and accounts and a look back at our achievements and challenges in the ICB’s first year.
Details of the event and the booking form can be found on our website.
Carlisle West Community Network launch
Saturday 2 September. Morton Manor Community Centre. Have your say on setting the council priorities for your area.
Family fun, children’s entertainment, iCan Fitness Wheels of Wellness, cafe and bar and networking.
Full details in the attached flyer
Arts, Culture & Heritage Discovery Day
Friday 22 September, Whitehaven. Interested in pathways into Arts, Culture & Heritage? Would you like to discover more about work related to opportunities in the Arts, Culture & Heritage sector?
Come along and chat to leading organisations in the sector to learn more about them, the opportunities they have, and how you can get involved!
Click on the thumbnail image for more information.
Understanding the new Youth Work Practice and Safeguarding Standards
Wednesday 13 September, online. Find out more about how to incorporate the new standards into youth work practice at the NYA’s upcoming webinar.
The session which will be delivered by Abbee McLatchie, Director of Youth Work and Xyna Prasad, Safeguarding Manager, NYA will bring to life the essential elements of the new Standards and provide an opportunity to ask questions.
Online AI for Fundraisers Masterclass
12 September. We have seen a massive interest in AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools such as Chat GPT amongst our community of fundraisers. We know that many not-for-profit organisations aren’t effectively using AI to benefit their fundraising – especially smaller organisations with fewer resources that are in danger of getting left behind.
Gent Grants’ NEW AI for Fundraisers Masterclass has been designed to demystify AI in fundraising, build your confidence, and get you started using Chat GPT to maximise your fundraising efforts!
Trauma Informed Conference 2023
2 November 2023 at Castle Green Hotel in Kendal. The conference is designed to bring together professionals from all walks of life to discuss and learn about trauma-informed practices and how they can be implemented in various settings, including voluntary sector agencies, health, education, social work, and criminal justice agencies.
The conference will feature prominent speakers from the field of trauma-informed practice, who will bring skills, knowledge, and current best practice in the field.
Thinking Critically About Trauma-Informed Practice
Thursday, 7 September. This online event from Trauma Informed Cumbria will consider what the term trauma-informed means and why it is an important concept in work with children and adults.
Trauma-informed practice requires an organisation-wide understanding of and commitment to trauma-informed approaches. This is an opportunity to explore some critiques at play within the field of trauma-informed approaches, and reflect on the interface between this approach to practice and issues of diversity, inclusion and equity.
North Cumbria Community Mental Health Transformation Conference 2023
10 October, People First, Carlisle. Join North East and North Cumbria NHS this World Mental Health Day to celebrate the work that has been undertaken as part of Community Mental Health Transformation in North Cumbria and discuss with colleagues from across the system how we can meet the challenges facing us to ensure that we deliver sustainable community based solutions to support the mental health needs of our population.
We have a wide range of speakers and workshop to showcase the amazing work being undertaken in our region and promote discussion as well as hopefully generate ideas on how we move forward. Cumbria CVS will also be presenting an evaluation of the Migrant Mental Health Project at the conference.
More details, including how to book, in the attached document
Bid Writing in Sports & Physical Activity Workshop
Wednesday 27 September, online. The Workshop is a two-hour online session aimed at organisations who are delivering sports and physical activity projects who are interested in growing their grant fundraising confidence and increasing their income through grant funding.
The workshop aims to benefit fundraisers with all levels of experience looking to hone their grant fundraising skills, as well as those who are looking to write their first application and don’t know where to begin.
Project John, Barrow – Race Night
Friday 1 October, Barrow. All money raised goes to the Giving to Communities Christmas Appeal. Click on the thumbnail for more information.
Digital Fundraising Summit 2023
1-2 November, online. Calling all charity sector employees – Charity Digital’s Annual Digital Fundraising Summit is back!
For the fifth year in a row, we are bringing back an action-packed event of Digital Fundraising insights from across the charity and tech sectors. The new and revamped Digital Fundraising Summit 2023 is a free, two-day, online event, with informative webinars and interactive workshops, and plenty of time for networking!
Online Safety Digital Conference: Keeping Children Safe Online
Monday 25 September, 2023. The internet is an increasingly large part of children and young people’s daily lives, with 12–15 year-olds spending on average 20 hours a week online. Despite progress in technologies to keep children safe, the Internet Watch Foundation found 255,588 reports of online child sexual abuse in 2022 alone. Increases in peer-on-peer abuse online is also impacting young people’s mental health.
As we await the passing of the landmark Online Safety Bill, join Westminster Insight’s timely Online Safety Conference. Chaired by Susie Hargreaves OBE, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, we will explore what the future holds for the Bill with representatives of the UK Council for Internet Safety, Ofcom, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) Protect and Prepare Board.
Barrow Summer Events
Details of events happening in and around Barrow Town Centre through to October can be found in this new leaflet.
Hard copies are available from The Forum, Leisure Centre, Children’s Centres and local shops etc. If you would like any hard copies please pop into the Forum.
Get Grants free introduction workshops
Following the success of Get Grants 10th Anniversary events, we are pleased to announce the return of our FREE Introduction Workshops! These workshops provide a taster session, filled with top tips and advice, of each of our training courses.
Friday 29 September: Introduction to Using Data in Fundraising Workshop
Tuesday 10 October: Introduction to Storytelling in Fundraising Workshop
Friday 10 November: Introduction to Fundraising Strategy Workshop
Free MS awareness training
Wednesday 27 September, Wednesday 29 November. Are you a community-based professional or volunteer? Do you work in health or social care? Do you work for a charity, community voluntary organisation or social enterprise? Are you an employer looking to know more about multiple sclerosis (MS)?
We are hosting free MS awareness training sessions for you. Due to demand, additional dates are available.
Meet the Funder Events
Dates through until December ’23. There has never been a greater need for fundraisers to get-together and share knowledge and experience. Get Grants FREE Virtual Events bring fundraisers across the UK together to share experiences and connect with other fundraisers.
In our popular Meet the Funder Virtual Events, Get Grants Funding Experts are joined by funders to talk about their funding programmes. These events give attendees the opportunity to speak directly to funders, take part in discussions, get unique insights, and ask questions specific to their project or organisation.
VCFSE News and Information
Westmorland and Furness Council Newsletter
View the Westmorland and Furness Council newsletter from 15/09/23 here, including:
- Community Grant funding Survey
- New solar farm site in Barrow gets green light
- Plan to reduce youth offending in Westmorland and Furness approved
Cumberland Council Newsletter
View the Cumberland Council newsletter from 15/09/23 here, including:
- Community Panels
- Communities come together to improve estates
- New café set to open
CC14 – refreshed investment guidance for charities
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has published a refreshed version of its guidance on investing charity money (CC14).
Trustees will want to be aware of its publication but the law on charity investment and how to access professional expertise hasn’t changed, so most will find that it does not necessitate a revamp of their approach or policy. However you should refer to it when next reviewing your investment policy (something you ought to be doing regularly anyway) or if you are setting out a policy for the first time.
Cumbria OPFCC Ethics and Integrity Panel
The Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Ethics and Integrity Panel are trying to gain as much diversity on the Panel as possible and are particularly looking for more female representation.
The Panel was set up a few years ago to oversee and provide public scrutiny to a variety of elements of policing, enabling challenge and the ability to influence policing practices. Information on the Panel and the work that it carries out in relation to Cumbria Constabulary and the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner can be found here
The recruitment information pack, application and monitoring forms are available here
North West Ambulance Service Guides
NWAS’s Patient Engagement and Communications team have produced an easy read format of our NWAS Patient Transport Service (PTS) and 999 guide, to help support those with learning disabilities to understand how their core services work.
PTS – Patient Transport Service easy read guide
999 – When to call for an ambulance easy read guide
The benefits of unrestricted funding
Funders can better support charities by giving them freedom on how they use grants.
New small charity support
Triceratops Training has recently launched some small charity specific training, which aims to equip those involved in small organisations with the knowledge, skills and confidence to build resilience and sustainability. The courses are practical, accessible and fun too, as they have been designed by experts but then refined by other small organisations. Triceratops Training are a social enterprise, only looking to cover costs. Any profits made this year, will be reinvested to keep training at £15 or cheaper per session for the foreseeable future.
Topics cover Fundraising, Strategy, Impact, Communications and others. Please see www.triceratopstraining.co.uk for more information.
Westmorland and Furness Council Newsletter
View the Westmorland and Furness Council newsletter from 08/09/23 here, including:
- Council launches £350k grant fund to establish outreach money advice services
- RAAC not found in Westmorland and Furness Council maintained schools
- Kendal community are invited to celebrate investment in historic library building
Cumberland Council Newsletter
View the Cumberland Council newsletter from 08/09/23 here, including:
- Plans submitted for Workington’s new Innovation Centre
- Free vitamins for families
- Cumberland’s Youth Justice Plan approved
New shadow minister for civil society named
The Labour Party has named Lilian Greenwood as its shadow civil society minister as part of the opposition party’s reshuffle.
Heritage has been added to the shadow civil society minister’s brief, which also includes the arts.
The ultimate guide to cyber security
Take a look at the basics of cyber security and how charities can protect against loss of revenue, reputational damage, financial disruption, and much more.
Regulator proposes removing requirement for fundraisers to always be ‘polite’
The Fundraising Regulator has suggested a revision to the rule that fundraisers must be polite to people at all times, as it could be a problem for fundraisers facing abuse during their work.
It has opened a consultation on its Code of Fundraising Practice, which sets the standards that apply to fundraising carried out by all charitable institutions and third-party fundraisers in the UK.
Charity Commission CEO Helen Stephenson to step down
Helen Stephenson has announced she will be stepping down as chief executive of the Charity Commission after seven years at the helm.
Now the longest-serving chief executive of the regulator, Stephenson took up post in July 2017. She joined from the Department for Education where she was director of early years and childcare for three years.
Barrow’s Heritage – Micro to Mighty: Who can apply for funding?
Applications for funding are welcomed from locally based voluntary and not for profit groups in Barrow Borough who are involved in heritage community projects or initiatives. To receive funding, groups must be constituted and hold a bank account in the name of the group.
Your project should demonstrate how it will engage a wider range of people in heritage. Projects will be heritage themed, delivered in Barrow Borough and will demonstrate how they address the outcomes outlined in the criteria and how they will engage with the local community.
Podcast – Do charities care about climate change?
More than four in five charities are concerned about the impacts of climate change, according to Charity Digital’s recent survey, Climate Change in the UK CharitySector. Yet only 52% of charities say environmental sustainability features in their strategy. But what do these findings actually say about the charity sector?
Charities may well be concerned about climate change, but are they taking meaningful action to address it? If not, what is preventing them from doing so?
Charities urged to support staff wellbeing as annual leave days decline
Charities have been encouraged to focus on their employees’ wellbeing, after a reported reduction in annual leave taken by sector workers.
According to Access PeopleHR’s report, the average number of annual leave days taken by charity workers has dropped by 4% in the last two years from an average of 43.2 to 41.5 days per year.
Cumberland Council Newsletter
View the Cumberland Council newsletter from 03/09/23 here, including:
- Cumberland Council seeks public input on Keswick Traffic Restrictions
- Successful summer Holiday Activity and Food programme comes to a close
- Summer clamp down on underage e-cigarette sales
Westmorland and Furness Council Newsletter
View the Westmorland and Furness Council newsletter from 01/09/23 here, including:
- RAAC in schools update
- Drop-in for a blood pressure check for “Know your Numbers” week
- Ulverston Library closed due to electrical safety issues
Meta to stop covering payment processing fees for charities
Social media giant Meta has been urged to rethink its decision to stop covering payment processing fees for charities fundraising through its sites.
The cost of third party processing fees for charities fundraising through Instagram and Facebook is set to change from November.
Cumbria Youth Partnership grants
Cumbria Youth Alliance are now accepting Expressions of Interest for the Cumbria Youth Partnership – Grants between £10,000 and £25,000 will be made available.
The Cumbria Youth Partnership is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, led by Cumbria Youth Alliance, and delivered by up to 20 youth organisations across Cumbria over 2-years. The partnership aims to support up to 800 young people around the agreed agenda of addictions, rurality & isolation, mental health & wellbeing, poverty, and aspirations & transitions.
Find out more and apply using the attached form
Money Advice Fund applications open
Westmorland and Furness Council’s Money Advice Outreach Fund which is open for applications – the closing date is Friday 29 September 2023.
The £350,000 Fund is to support delivery of money advice outreach services across Westmorland and Furness. It will provide grants to establish money advice services delivered in local centres and close to communities where the need is greatest across Westmorland and Furness.
Find out more and apply using the attached form
£800m of charity legacy income stuck in probate backlog, say experts
Charities are missing out on £800m pledged to their causes due to a “worsening” backlog of probate cases being processed, according to sector experts.
Legacy Futures’ figures from its latest monitoring report show that bequest numbers for the three months to June 2023 (14,000) were 6% lower than in the same period of 2022.
Suicide Prevention Grant Fund
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has made available a £10 million grant fund to support suicide prevention activities delivered in England by voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in 2023 to 2025.
Applications are open until 1st October.
Cumberland Council – Cumbria’s Holiday Activity and Food Programme Winter 2023
Cumberland Council are inviting expressions of interest from organisations who wish to run Holiday Activity and Food Programmes for young people during the winter school holidays.
They are looking for providers who can deliver in one of their 3 localities, you will need to complete a separate application for each locality or clearly show the numbers and costs for each locality as each has their own budget based on the number of children on free school meals. They have a Cumberland Council grants panel set up to assist the HAF team to make decisions on how the funding is allocated in their area and to ensure there is no duplication of funding or activities.
Find out more, and how to apply, in this document
Last chance to Become Green Together!
September is the final chance to apply to Become Green Together! Sign up to receive expert support from environmental consultants, guidance and tools to track and reduce your carbon footprint, and heavily subsidised access to the Investors in the Environment framework.
This is the perfect opportunity to make your workplace sustainable, meet the environmental requirements of funders, and build a greener future for our sector.
Don’t miss out and apply this month
Got a spare room?
Refugees at Home is a UK charity which connects those with a spare room in their home to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere to stay.
Penrith and Eden Refugee Network also have a Rent a Room to a Refugee scheme to connect landlords and new refugees in the Carlisle area to help prevent refugees becoming street homeless.
Testing and improving your website structure and content
In this online article from Digital Culture Network, Websites Tech Champion, Andy Leitch guides you through card sorting, what it is and how it can help you to improve your website structure and content.
The article is aimed at anyone who wants to improve the effectiveness or their website and improve the experience of their website visitors.
Find volunteers for your climate organisation with Reach Volunteering
Reach Volunteering is running a campaign encouraging people to volunteer with climate and environmental organisations this September. If your organisation could benefit from volunteers with three or more years of experience in a range of expertise, this campaign could help you.
Reach runs a service connecting people who want to volunteer their expertise with organisations which need it. You may be looking for social media support, a trustee, a website designer or a fundraiser, or a host of other skills such as illustration, graphic design, finance, writing, translation, research or digital developer. As long as your organisation has a climate or biodiversity focus and is looking to recruit skills-based volunteers, you can participate.
Post your role on Reach’s platform before September 11 to take part.
£10 million Clean Energy Fund to launch in Autumn 2023
The Government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have announced a £10 million fund will open in early Autumn and help deliver government’s ambitions to boost local growth and energy security, restoring optimism and pride in local communities.
The fund will support local jobs and growth, build stronger communities, and enable places to directly benefit from clean, affordable, locally sourced energy.
Accessibility: How to identify 3 common barriers on your charity’s website
Did you know that 80% of accessibility barriers on websites relate to colour, navigation and labelling? This open resource from The Catalyst is available to any non-profit organisations and is a useful guide to anyone responsible for website or digital media content.
It covers how to identify barriers that prevent, limit or block people from achieving their goals on your website. Once you know what to look for, you can identify the most common barriers visually or by using free tools. Identifying them means you can avoid them. This will make your website more inclusive.
Tech Review: Canva
Drawing on their experience using tech as a charity, the Tech Review series features honest reviews by Charity Digital staff about the tech they have used in their day-to-day lives. What does they think about the graphic design website Canva?
How charities can address the issue of burnout
With burnout becoming an increasing issue in the workplace, Kirsty Marrins shares the causes and the ways charities can support staff.
Westmorland and Furness Council Newsletter
View the Westmorland and Furness Council newsletter from 25/08/23 here, including:
- New Climate and Nature Partnership Fund announced
- Could you join our fostering community?
- Amazing events coming up in our libraries!
Cumberland Council Newsletter
View the Cumberland Council newsletter from 25/08/23 here, including:
- If you live in the wards of Bransty, Egremont North, Hillcrest and Hensingham, Howgate, Kells and Sandwith, or Mirehouse, we want to hear from you
- New investment plans for Maryport revealed
- Council pays tribute following the death of former Chief Executive
Charities censure ‘politically motivated activists’ remarks by home secretary
Charity sector organisations have criticised comments made by the home secretary in response to a Charity Commission investigation into Care4Calais.
The Charity Commission’s report, published today, found serious misconduct and/or mismanagement by the refugee support charity’s former trustees.
Social prescribing resources
NAVCA with the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP) and Spirit of 2012 have launched two new resources:
The Self-Assessment Development Guide for Social Prescribing Link Worker Host Organisations is a practical, day-to-day guide on how to develop and deliver a quality SPLW hosting service with useful practical advice for programmed in all stages of development from considering hosting link workers to maintaining an existing highly successful programme.
The Impactful Social Prescribing resource is a presentation template and accompanying guidance notes that aim to increase the impact of social prescribing through increased co-design/production of the social prescribing infrastructure, and by creating stronger connections between local VCSE infrastructure organisations (LIOs) and stakeholders involved in social prescribing at a national, regional, system and place level.
Both of these resources can be found here
Surveys, Research, Feedback and Reports
Grant Funding Survey from Westmorland and Furness Council
Westmorland and Furness Council have launched a survey on the council’s grant funding process. They’re keen to hear from voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector organisations in the area.
This includes:
- Organisations that have received grant funding in the past (from any of the predecessor councils, or from Westmorland and Furness Council itself)
- Organisations that have applied for funding in the past but been unsuccessful
- Organisations that have considered funding from the Council, but have decided not to apply
The survey responses will help to develop Westmorland and Furness’s Grant Policy and Procedures, so that they work better for applicants and the communities they serve.
In-memory giving market worth up to £2.4bn, research reveals
Charities in the UK receive between £1.8bn and £2.4bn a year through in-memory fundraising, according to new research by Legacy Foresight.
The In-Memory Insight – Remembering Together report shows that the in-memory giving market has grown “significantly” over the past decade and is “a lot larger than charities appear to be recording”.
BAME individuals volunteering less often due to cost-of-living crisis, says survey
Some 38% of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) volunteers are volunteering less often due to the cost-of-living crisis, according to a survey by Human Appeal.
This compares to 30% of non-BAME volunteers, who are reducing their volunteering hours for the same reason.
Funders should rethink evaluation methods to increase equity, report says
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) has called on grantmakers to change their evaluation methods to avoid bias and address power dynamics.
In a report published last month, NPC says funders should rethink how they judge grantees via their evaluation practices.
Digital inclusion – help develop the regional strategy
Thrive by Design are working with North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Integrated Care System (ICS) to explore the role of ‘digital’ in people’s experiences of accessing and engaging with health and social care services in our region. These insights will inform the development of a draft digital inclusion strategy and a strategic plan that will support the implementation of the strategy across the ICS area.
The overall goal is to work together to ensure that health and care services with digital components are being delivered in ways that are inclusive and accessible for different people at different points in their health and care journey.
They would like to speak to VCSE organisations in our region to help them to understand experiences of accessing and engaging with health and social care services and those of the people they support. They would also be keen to speak to organisations that would be able to support them to engage directly with people from local communities to understand their experiences.
Interested in getting involved? They will be visiting the region on various dates through September. More details of how to get involved can be found here, or contact thrivebydesign.lypft@nhs.net
Help NCVO push for full funding for charities
NCVO are campaigning for government and public bodies to provide full funding to charities delivering critical public services. The voluntary sector delivers over £11 billion worth of public services every year, services that are critical to communities and have been underfunded for many years.
NCVO are building evidence of the challenges currently faced by charities delivering public services and will use this information to make the case to government to fully fund services in future.
Gen Z motivated to volunteer by cost-of-living crisis, survey suggests
The cost-of-living crisis has made more young people want to volunteer, according to a new survey.
Most Gen Z respondents (52%) to a report by Censuswide said that the cost-of-living crisis made them want to volunteer, the most of any age group and compared to 21% of those aged over 55.
Over a quarter of charities using AI tools to fill talent gaps, report says
Charities are adopting new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to increase fundraising and fill recruitment gaps, according to a recently published report.
Endsleigh’s Rewarding Industries 2023 study spoke to 307 staff across civil society and found 29% are using AI tools to fill talent gaps within their charities.
Disclaimer
The information above is provided in good faith. Whilst every care is taken to ensure that it is correct, Cumbria CVS cannot accept liability for any omissions or inaccuracies and does not take responsibility for the quality for any services or products mentioned.
